Two company directors have been fined after polluting waters in Perthshire and Argyll.

A protected population of freshwater pearl mussels in the process.

The directors, described as "environmental criminals", were fined at Perth Sheriff Court, according to For Argyll. Alan Smith and Charles Kippen were fined a total of £11,000 for offences under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 [Regulation 5 and 40(1)(a)] and the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 [Section 20(3)(a)].

Both men had pleaded guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing on 6 December last year.

The men were directors of A & C Construction (Scotland) Limited, while Mr Kippen was also a director of Chic Kippen & Son.

Both companies failed to ensure effective silt mitigation measures were in place between 26 May 2010 and 1 October 2010 at the Inverinian Hydro Scheme site in Perthshire.

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Construction activities at the Perthshire site included the building of a pipeline, a ford and access track which caused pollution of the surrounding watercourses and caused extensive environmental damage to the river bed of the River Lyon, killing and injuring rare freshwater pearl mussels.

Mr Smith also admitted a failure to ensure effective silt mitigation measures by A & C Construction (Scotland) Limited between 4 August 2010 and 4 October 2010 at the Castles Estate Hydro Project at Lochawe, Argyll.

In this instance, the construction of ford crossings, an access track and coffer dam permitted the pollution of local watercourses, namely the Allt Coire Ghlais, Allt Coire Chrechainn and Allt Mhoille.

At an earlier hearing at Perth Sheriff Court on 18 February 2013, Shawater Limited (the company which provided the engineering design for the Perth site) was fined £4,000 after pleading guilty to permitting employees of A & C Construction (Scotland) Limited and Chic Kippen & Son to carry out the activities which caused the pollution of the watercourses in Perthshire.

Craig Harris, Procurator Fiscal, Wildlife and Environment said: "These crimes have caused a terrible impact on their respective environments and, in the case of the Perth site, a population of freshwater pearl mussels has been left devastated by the damage caused.

"That crime has an impact on an international scale given Scotland’s importance to the world’s freshwater pearl mussel population. It is unclear how long it will take for this mussel colony to recover, if it even can."

Mr Harris added: "These convictions should send out a strong warning to any other businesses who fail to carry out their activities in accordance with our environmental laws."

(JP)